32 die in Pakistan suicide bombs

TWO suicide bombings at a centre for people displaced by a Pakistani military offensive against militants yesterday killed at least 32 people and wounded 80.

The first attacker, disguised as a woman in a burqa, was followed seconds later by a teenager who blew himself up.

Local commissioner Khalid Khan Omarzai said the second blast was "huge and caused most of the deaths". The bombers struck as about 300 people displaced by fighting were registering at an office in the village of Kacha Pakha in the north-west of the country, hoping to get food.

Pakistan's military has carried out a series of crackdowns against home-grown al-Qaeda-backed Taleban fighters seeking to topple the government. But the measures have failed to weaken the Taleban's resolve.

"The blasts were so powerful that the limbs of people were scattered throughout the area. People are searching for limbs of their dear ones in nearby crop fields," said resident Mohammad Qasim.

A group affiliated with Pakistan's Taleban last night claimed responsibility for the attacks. The military said its latest operations, in the Orakzai and Khyber and Kurram regions, have killed hundreds of militants, casualty tolls that it is not possible to confirm independently.

Pakistan has suffered bomb attacks on an almost daily basis for the last 18 months.